Rev. David Holwick L EASTER
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 1, 2018
Luke 24:1-12
NOT FAKE NEWS
I. Easter on April Fool's Day.
A. April Fool's pranks from a popular website.
1) Cut out silhouettes of bugs at ten times normal size, and
tape them on the inside of lampshades.
2) Find someone who uses an office chair that has a shock
absorbing piston underneath, and tape an airhorn there.
3) Hand your friends some caramel apples on a stick, but
instead of apples, use onions.
4) Find a can of aerosol shrimp spray at a bait shop, and
tape the label of a Glade "Tropical Mist" can over it.
[1]
B. Is Easter just a prank?
1) Many would say it is foolish to believe the dead can live.
2) The testimony of a world-renowned scientist:
Stephen Hawking, who died recently, was one of the most famous
scientists in the world.
He explored mathematics and physics and tried, unsuccessfully,
to discover the "theory of everything."
Hawking was a long-time survivor of ALS, Lou Gerig's Disease.
His body was twisted and he had to speak through a computer.
Yet his books were bestsellers and two movies have been made
of his life.
With all that he had, one thing he didn't have was faith.
In an interview, Hawking once said, "God is the name people
give to the reason we are here.
But I think that reason is the laws of physics rather than
someone with whom one can have a personal relationship.
An impersonal God."
On another occasion, he said, "I regard the brain as a
computer which will stop working when its components fail.
There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers;
that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
"Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that
God created the universe.
But now science offers a more convincing explanation."
Hawking is giving the consensus view of modern science, which
sees itself as the successor to religious faith.
Science supposedly sheds the bright light of reason on things
only faith could explain in earlier times.
#66040
C. Christianity believes death is not the end.
1) What happened to Jesus, can happen to us.
2) But how do we know it is not just a fable?
3) As the famous theologian Karl Barth once said, people come
to church each Sunday with one question in the back of
their mind - "Is it true?"
Kerux Sermon #1753
II. Christianity has always seemed ridiculous.
A. The events of Easter are the epitome of unbelievable for many.
1) The apostles themselves did not believe it.
2) Note their reaction in verse 11 - "they did not believe the
women, for their words seemed to them like nonsense."
a) Dying people don't just disappear.
b) In Morris County, sometimes they are not picked up,
but at least we know where they are.
(A recent article exposed a troubled funeral service
that is supposed to pick up the bodies of those
who have died, but they do a poor job of it.)
B. Of course, the largest issue is not an empty tomb.
1) It is a risen Savior.
a) Ages ago, Job asked this question: "If someone dies,
will they live again?" Job 14:14
b) The Bible says Jesus became alive again, in a different,
supernatural way.
c) And it says we can become alive again as well, if we
put our faith in Jesus.
2) This is too good to be true for many people.
a) The Unitarian church in Morristown thinks so.
They had a an issue a few years ago.
They had hired a local contractor to paint a ceiling
in their meeting hall.
The man painted beautiful clouds on the ceiling to remind
everyone of heaven.
The Unitarians took one look at it and had him paint it
over with a solid color.
Most of them don't believe in a heaven.
They think that once you are dead, that's it.
You are just food for the worms.
Literally - the cutting edge in burial for them is to wrap
a dead body in a fabric bag and bury them in the woods.
It is called a Green Burial.
(There is a cemetery in southern New Jersey where you can
do this.)
b) I don't have a problem with a green burial.
1> You can dispose of a body any way you want,
hopefully with some respect involved.
2> Whatever we do to you after you are dead, God can
undo when he resurrects you.
A> But he will only resurrect those who have been
transformed by his grace.
B> Will this include you?
III. Is it reasonable to believe in this?
A. The early Christians believed it enough to die for it.
1) The Gibello family believes it enough they have flown
halfway around the world to live in an insect-infested
house so they can preach to people who haven't heard.
2) Some of you have believed it even when it was ridiculed
in your classrooms and by your friends.
B. The fact that we believe it, doesn't make it true.
1) The resurrection is hard to prove, or disprove, by science.
a) It happened only once.
b) It obviously doesn't fit in with normal reality.
c) But this is kind of the whole point.
2) Some things people are willing to die for, probably aren't
true.
"Mad" Mike Hughes, one year younger than me, believes the
world is shaped like a Frisbee. It is not a globe.
He not a scientist, but a limousine driver from Apple Valley,
California.
Even so, he has been determined to prove the earth is pretty
much flat.
This week he did this by blasting himself into space.
After several months of delays, he successfully launched
himself over the Mojave Desert in a home-made
steam-propelled rocket.
He landed so hard he said he probably wouldn't be able to
get out of bed the next morning.
So, did he "prove" Earth is flat?
Not exactly.
"Mad" Mike only launched himself about a quarter-mile up.
That's pretty impressive for a do-it-yourself astronaut
but about 61 miles short of getting into space.
He plans to improve his rocket and try, try again.
Like the cartoon star Wile E. Coyote.
#66047
3) Christians are different than flat-earthers.
a) I can present arguments that the resurrection of Jesus
is the least unreasonable explanation of what
happened that day, but I cannot prove it.
b) The hope of Easter will always require faith.
c) At least, until we actually experience it ourselves.
d) That makes it just like many other things we believe
in our lives.
IV. We do not have a fear of the dark, but a hope for the future.
A. Time is limited for all of us.
1) I retire in a few months.
a) It is one of the big transitions in life.
2) I have one more transition to go - the grave.
a) You will experience it some day, either sooner or later.
b) What will happen to you?
As I gradually clean out my office, I have come across
many old photographs.
One I found this week is a potluck dinner we had here
many years ago.
Chiz and Shirley Blewett are sitting side by side,
eating their food.
Chiz has confidence where Shirley is, because she
had a solid faith in Jesus.
B. The promise of resurrection is amazing.
1) We will live forever.
2) And not just exist, but have a life filled with joy and
fulfillment.
3) It will be a life filled with relationships.
a) You will know people of every nationality and culture,
and from every age.
b) You won't be stuck with just your weird Aunt Agnes.
c) And best of all, you will see God face to face and
experience him in a way you can't even imagine.
V. What you put your hope in matters.
A. There are many religions, philosophies and ideologies out there.
B. You may only think you are safe.
Nine years ago we had "The Miracle on the Hudson" where a large
passenger jet set down safely on New York's main river.
This year we had the opposite.
A sightseeing helicopter crashed in the East River and killed
everyone on board except the pilot.
The crash was caused by a series of safety failures.
The fuel shut off valve was intended to be a safety feature
but was accidentally engaged during the flight, probably
by one of the passengers.
This forced the helicopter into an emergency landing.
The floatation devices were intended to keep the helicopter
from sinking but inflated improperly, causing the craft
to flip on its side and quickly take on water.
The sightseers were photographers and the helicopter had
special harnesses for them so they could lean out of the
open doors to take pictures.
The harnesses were promoted in the advertising to reassure
those who might feel squeamish about the open door.
Instead of saving them, the harnesses trapped them when the
craft hit the water.
Three separate safety features actually worked together to
do exactly the opposite of what they were supposed to do
- save lives.
They promised security but delivered disaster.
Every year there are those who attend Easter service believing
that they are spiritually secure.
After all, they call themselves Christians.
They were born in a Christian family.
They attend church services during the important holidays.
They try to be a good person.
They give to charity and have compassion for the poor.
They treat others the way the hope to be treated.
As they look at all the things they do, they feel they're
going to land safe and sound at their eternal destination.
What they don't know is that the very things they're counting
on to securely deliver them will end up working toward their
demise.
That's because their confidence in church membership, church
attendance, and their own good deeds can't replace the only
real source of salvation - the finished work of Jesus.
#66046
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “25+ Hilarious Pranks For April Fools’ Day,” by Linda D., <link>.
Kerux Sermon #1753 “Is It True?” by Rev. Dr. David E. Leininger,
St. Paul Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, North Carolina,
March 23, 2000; <http://www.unidial.com/~stpaul/pulpit.html>
[dead link: church’s website is <stpaulgreensboro.org>].
#66040 “Hawking, The Cosmos and Its Creator,” by Erich Bridges, Baptist
Press, March 16, 2018; <baptistpress.org>.
#66046 “Disaster On the Hudson,” by Illustration Exchange Staff,
March 28, 2018, <IllustrationExchange.com>, based on the
article “NTSB Releases Preliminary Report On Deadly East
River Helicopter Crash,” CBS, March 26, 2018, <link>.
#66047 “He Launched Himself Into Space,” by Rev. David Holwick, adapted
from an article in the "This Is True" internet newsletter
edited by Randy Cassingham, March 25, 2018; <link>.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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